Rise Of The Dead
by Prettyprincess45
Summary: (AU) A few seconds is all it takes to ruin a life. That's what Claire Wolfe learns the day her school gets overrun by walkers. Nobody knows what they are, but they have taken numerous lives. Claire has no idea how she can cope anymore,after witnessing the death of her boyfriend and best friend. Then, she encounters Rick's group, not knowing if she could trust them. Possible Carl/OC
1. Chapter 1

**UGH! I'm starting another story! I have 5 unfinished, but whatever. I've had too many WD stories in my head to count. But don't worry, I won't post all of them. Lol.**

**And, when I say there'll be possible Carl/OC, I literally mean that. This story isn't going to be like my other stories, sweet and lovely and funny. I'm experimenting something new here. Sure, there may be romance later, but not until LATER. Also, stress the word MAY. The romance may never come, you'll just have to see what I have planned. *Evil Laugh***

**Anyway... Enjoy! And please leave a 100% honest review! Thank you all in advance!**

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><p>"Hey, do you have the answer to number twenty two?" Lindsey Graham whisper-asked her best friend Claire Wolfe, pointing her pen towards Claire's paper. It was just another day in a typical high school biology class for them, boring and long. The only good part about the class was that Lindsey and Claire sat right next to each other. But this still didn't change the fact that the class was boring. Their teacher, Mr. Swanson, didn't seem to care what anyone in the class was doing. He was too busy reading a book.<p>

"Sssssh. You know we're not supposed to cheat." Claire scolded her friend in a whisper. She was always a wimp when it came to going against school rules. Lindsey on the other hand, she was always breaking rules and it didn't even faze her.

"Do it for a friend." Lindsey whispered, smiling one of her signature so-white-it'll-make-you-blind-smiles. Her teeth looked like two rows of white chiclets, which made Claire jealous. Lindsey's grandfather owned a teeth whitening company, and her smile is proof. Lindsey was always trying to get Claire to try some of her grandfather's teeth whitening strips, but Claire never would. "Don't they eat away at your teeth if you keep them on too long?" Lindsey had just rolled her eyes and stuck the strip in her purse. Claire was just neurotic .

Claire sighed and tucked a piece her raven black hair behind her ear, looking up at their biology teacher. He still was sitting at his desk, reading his book and not even paying attention to the teenagers in the room.

_Guess he doesn't care if we cheat, _Claire thought, moving her paper slightly towards the edge of her desk so her friend could see the answer. Lindsey smiled a thank you and Claire smiled back.

Claire kept working until she finished all 60 questions on her exam. Mr. Swanson was known for giving long exams and quizzes, claiming that they would "help" the children in the future. Claire thought it was a croc and she and Lindsey thought he only made long exams so he didn't have to teach the class.

Claire had slight _ding _and knew automatically that it was her phone. She clicked it on and saw it was her boyfriend Steve.

_Meet u outside ur class. Swanson right? _

Claire looked at the clock on her phone. Only about 5 more minutes until announcements and dismissal. Only five more minutes until she got to see her adorable boyfriend. She squealed on the inside as she typed a reply.

_Yep. See you. _

"Who are talking to?" Lindsey asked, trying to look at the screen on Claire's phone. But Claire pulled the phone away before she could even see.

"Oh. Must be Steeeeve." Lindsey teased, smirking at her friend. Claire's pale white cheeks immediately turned red.

"It is. He's going to meet me after class." Claire smiled and said, showing her friend the message.

"Aaaaw. Don't get too frisky." Lindsey joked. Claire turned even more red.

"LOCKDOWN. LOCKDOWN. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is NOT a drill." The principal said over the loud speaker. Claire and Lindsey looked at each other, kind of shocked. What was going on?

"Ugh, there's probably some rapist on the loose or something stupid like that." Lindsey said, rolling her eyes and tapping her perfectly manicured pink fingernails on the desk.

"And, to all teachers, read the email in your inbox from me. I repeat, all teachers, please read the email in your inbox from me." The principal said.

"She sounds like a robot." Claire said. Lindsey giggled and nodded.

Ding! Claire took at her phone and looked at her messages.

_This is bull. _

Steve again. Claire sighed. Here and Steve were supposed to meet after class. How long would they be here? All day? All night? The rest of the school year?

_Ikr _Claire texted her boyfriend back.

"What's wrong? You look... Troubled." Lindsey said, eyeing Claire.

"I just... I don't like lockdowns." Claire replied.

"Yeah, ok. You just want to get out of here so you can meet Steve." Lindsey grinned triumphantly.

"If you know everything, why do you ask?" Claire asked her friend, checking her phone for a new message. Nothing.

Then, all of a sudden, a blood curling scream came over the loudspeaker. "Help me! Help! HELP! Hel..." The principal said. Then everything went quiet.

Claire looked at Lindsey. "Something bad is happening.." She said, truly frightened.

Lindsey's fave was pale as a ghost's. She just merely looked at her friend and nodded. Mr. Swanson was staring at his computer with a look of pure shock on his face.

"This has to be a joke... Has to be..." He was saying to himself.

"Um... W... What's going... On?" Claire asked in a shaky voice.

"Nothing." He answered. Claire hated when teachers did this, pretending nothing was happening, when the school was clearly on lockdown.

"What just happened to the... Principal?" Celeste Waters, who sat right in front of Claire and Lindsey, asked.

The teacher didn't answer and told the teens that they could do what they wanted as long as they didn't make too much noise or go near any doors or windows. Claire wondered why this was.

Nobody moved an inch. Everyone just stared at each other, afraid of what was happening, especially since their teacher didn't want to fill them in.

Claire looked at Lindsey, who's face was still white. "I'm gonna call Steve." Claire announced to her friend. Lindsey still didn't move or say a word.

Claire dialed Steve's number and waited for him to pick up. It took him about two rings.

"Hello." He said quietly.

"Hey." Claire answered. Everyone in the class turned to look at her. But she just didn't care.

"They gonna let us out soon? I need to see you." Steve said. Awww.

"Probably not. Did you just hear the loudspeaker? Something bad is going on, and they won't even tell us what!"

"It know. It's bad, dude. My teacher said there's some kind of monsters runnin' around, but I don't really believe her because monsters don't exist, man."

Claire cringed at his overuse of the words "Man" and "Dude" every time he spoke, but decided that she could get over it. "It's probably some crazy serial killer or something." She told him, her voice dripping in fear.

"Yeah. But don't be scared babe. They'll protect us. We're more important than everybody, and they know that."

Claire smiled at the little joke, but she didn't laugh. She also heard some faint banging noises in the background, but she didn't really want to bother asking about them. She didn't want to sound too neurotic "I know." Was all she said.

"Well, my teacher'a tellin' me I need to stop talkin' so I-" Suddenly Steve let out a deep scream and a grunt, like he was being attacked by something.

"Steve!" Claire called out, afraid. What happened? She felt her heart drop and her stomach lurch.

"Steve!" She called again, this time even louder. Everyone in the class turned towards her again. "What are you looking at?" She snapped at them. Lindsey stared at her friend, shocked. She didn't know that Claire had any meanness in her.

Claire heard the sounds of faint screams in the background, they sounded like kids.

"Steve?" She tried again. Nothing. Something had probaBly happened to him, something bad.

"Look, girl, Steve is..." Some random voice said, but he was cut off by a groan of some sort and then a scream, which Claire thought was his own.

"What.." Claire said, more to herself than anybody.

Then she was suddenly aware of a banging sound at the door. It sounded like knocking.

_Don't open it or go near it. _She silently begged the teacher.

The noises got louder, and soon the door was breaking apart, cracking and flying all over the place. Claire mentally cursed the school for having wooden doors.

Nobody moved, even though they definitely should've. A rancid smell flooded into the room, and Claire felt like vomiting.

Into the room burst a whole group of things. Nobody had no idea what they were. They were moaning and groaning, and looked like they had no idea what they were doing.

In a second, everyone was up running and screaming. The things lunged at the people in the front of the room. The kids screamed as the things bit them and tore their flesh open. Mr. Swanson tried to help them, but the things got him. A bunch of other kids ran around frantically, some even climbing out of windows.

Claire, Lindsey, and some other boy hid behind a big table in the back of the room, which had a ton of lab equipment on it.

Claire began to breath heavily. What were those things? They looked almost like zombies, like the ones in all of the movies. But those were movies, right? Claire felt like she was in a movie right now. How could this even happen. It just wasn't possible. Not at all. Right?

Claire rolled her sleeve up and pinched herself, hoping that this was a dream. Immediately, the crescent moon shaped mark that she had made had started bleeding and stinging. This was real.

Claire began to feel dizzy. She saw a couple more kids get eaten alive. Suddenly, her vision blurred. Celeste getting torn apart was the last thing she saw before she went unconscious.

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><p>Claire woke up and rubbed her eyes. Where was she? What had happened to her? Was the monster thing real?<p>

Sure enough, it was. Blood was everywhere, as well as a few dying kids who were breathing heavily. Most of their chests were torn open, revealing their organs, and even the rib cage for some. Claire wondered how they were even still alive. She also wondered where the things had went. Had they left? Or did somebody get rid of them?

She looked beside her, where a bright yellow sticky note was posted. In Lindsey's tiny, neat, scrawl, it read:

_Went to get help. You passed out. Sorry about not talking to you earlier. I was too afraid to do anything. Hopefully you'll wake up and see me, but if not, I hope you at least saw this note. Well, you obviously did if you're reading this right now. Duh. Anyway, the boy, Toby(or was it Tony), left as well but he didn't come with me. _

Lindsey was the only person Claire knew who would be able to fit all of that on a tiny sticky note. Claire looked up at the clock on the wall. It had been 3 hours since the lockdown had been placed, and she had a feeling it was never going to be lifted.

She stood up, a little shaky. But she had to find Lindsey. What if she had gotten into some trouble with those things when she was getting help? Claire had no idea how she would help her friend if that was the case, but she would sure try.

She walked across the room, almost stepping on a dying person along the way. He groaned and moaned, his guts hanging out. Claire felt like she was going to pass out again, so she stopped staring at the boy and continued to move on.

The halls were a mess. Bodies were everywhere, and so were the things(which Claire thought were zombies, but had no idea for sure). The things were eating dead people and some were just wandering aimlessly.

First, Claire approached the class that Steve had for the last period, quietly as possible. Could those things hear sound? As she stepped inside, that horrid smell greeted her, only this time it was much worse. She looked at all of the bodies, trying to see if Steve was here.

Some of the kiss were ones she was close to, others not. She felt sick just looking at them, thinking about all of the young lives these things took. She felt tears pop into her eyes. Then she saw him. Steve was lying right below his desk, half eaten, and dead.

"No..." Claire said as she ran a hand over his body. They had only been going out for 2 months, but they had been friends since elementary school. And she loved him. She really did.

Claire began to cry. She clutched his hand, hoping it would bring him to life, but knowing it wouldn't.

"Steve... No... Steve..." She said in between sobs.

She kissed his head, which was covered in blood, and left the room just as quietly as she had came in.

She didn't want to move, but she knew she had to find Lindsey. She wiped her eyes and tried not to think of the terrible sight she had just seen. She looked outside of the classroom she was just in. A bunch of people, but no Lindsey. She looked up against the lockers. Nothing... Then she saw the familiar honey-golden hue of hair that belonged to Lindsey... She began to cry again, running back into the room with Steve in it. She looked at Steve's body and collapsed to the floor. She was still awake, but she was sobbing.

She heard someone step into the room. She heard moaning and groaning. She turned, but only to see one of those things. It was coming straight at her.

She heard a scream escape her throat as she looked at the windows, planning a way to get out. There was no way she was touching that thing. She had no idea what she would do if she did anyway. She'd probably be dead.

She ran over to the rescue window and pushed it open. Luckily, the thing was slow, so it wasn't too close to her. She climbed out of the window and went outside. The air was cold, but she didn't care.

Everything around her was wrecked. Windows were broke, the streets were covered in blood, guts, and body parts. Claire felt faint again, she she headed towards the dumpster by the school, where most couples made out whenever they could.

She hid behind the dumpster, not even caring about the smell. She felt the tears come back again. She had just seen a bunch of her friends, her best friend, and her boyfriend die, pretty much all at once.

She wished this wasn't real, that it was all a dream. But it wasn't. She knew that now. But she didn't like to think of that. This was something out of a horror movie. And she was playing a huge role.

It only took a few seconds to ruin her life. Her life, which included a best friend, a boyfriend, a family, and other people she loved. She wondered if her family knee about this? Or had they been overrun? Claire didn't like to think about that. She decide to call her mother. But first, she needed time to cool down. To compose herself. To think about all that she had seen.

She began to sob again.

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><p><strong>Whew! Believe it or not, this was a beast to write. I proofread it 3 times, and added stuff and fixed things every time. <strong>

**I hope enjoyed. If you did, drop me a line. Even if you hated it. Just please tell me what you thought. As I said before, I'm experimenting here, so I really would like to know how I did. **

**Anyway, it's 2 AM where I live, and I'd better get to bed, Or my family will have it face my bitchiness if I get no sleep. Lol. **

**Thanks for reading and have a great day/night!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Thanks for the support last chapter! I got a couple of reviews, yay! Now we'll get to those first before we move on... **

**pen123:**** Thanks so much! And here it is, an update! Hope you enjoy this one as you much as you did last time! **

**marmarpenn:**** Thank you! That means a lot to me! **

**I'd love to hear from both of you again... Wow I'm pathetic. **

**Also, as for how the canon characters look... Imagine how each one of them looks in the current season(season 5), and there you have it. But remember that this won't have anything to do with the canon events in this season. This is an AU story after all. I may make a few references here and there, but that'll be it. **

**Now, let's move on to the story and see what will happen to our poor little Claire this chapter. Or do ya'll hate her? Either way, you're gonna see her... **

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><p>"Rick, look over here. I think I found a live one."<p>

"Are they awake?"

"I dunno."

"Well, let's see."

Claire was suddenly aware of someone shaking her. Had she passed out again? Even more importantly, who was shaking her? She still thought that this whole thing might be a dream, no a nightmare, and that it might be her dad shaking her awake for school. She immediately knew this was wrong when she smelled that rancid smell.

Her eyes opened up to find a older-looking man with sky-blue eyes. It looked as if he hadn't shaved in a while, he had soft curls, and most of them were gray, as well as the hair on his beard.

"Are you with me?" He was shouting at her. She was startled at his loudness. Who was this guy?

"Are you with me?" He called again.

"Yes." She said quietly, looking beside her, where her phone was lying, a big crack in the middle of the screen. She must have dropped it when she passed out, or whatever had happened. She tried to pick it up, but the man who was screaming at her was pulling her up.

"Who are you?" She asked him, her voice shaky.

"We're here to save ya. How old are ya, anyway?" Another man who was also trying to help pull her up asked. This guy looked younger, and he was bearing a crossbow.

"15. I am... Well I was I guess... I was a freshman." She sputtered. She didn't like to think about what would happen with her schooling now, because she had no idea whatsoever.

"Wow, girl. You're still a yougin'." The crossbow guy said.

"Do you have any friends still in there?" The older man asked.

"Maybe some kids are left... But my best friend and my boyfriend..." She stopped speaking to avoid sobbing all over again.

The older man out a hand on her shoulder, a kind gesture for someone that she had just met. "It's alright. We'll look for more people. We'll find some." He said.

Claire stared up at this strange man. "You think?" She asked him. She had just seen numerous amounts of people die from those things, and she didn't know just how many would actually be left.

"We can't make any promises. But we'll try." He said, bending over to scoop up her phone. "This yours?" He asked, examining it.

"Yes." Claire answered.

He handed it to her. "I hope you weren't planning to call anybody, because this isn't going to work again. Not here, at least."

She tried to click it on, but it wasn't turning on. Maybe it was dead. Or maybe the guy was right. It just didn't work. But how could that be possible. How could a phone work for one minute and just turn off the next. She was even more confused now. "What? Why? What's going on here, anyway? What are those things?" She asked, furrowing her brows.

"Well, it's kinda complex." Crossbow guy said, "But there's a disease going around, and it turns people into those things. We call 'em walkers."

"How do you get the disease?" She asked, afraid. Could she have gotten it by standing in a room with a bunch of them? Now that she thought about it, she did feel kind of weird. Her heart raced. Could she be getting it?

"Well, we're all infected." Older guy said.

"Wait, what?" Claire asked, baffled. This obviously wasn't just some common cold. So how could they all have it? They weren't walking around mindlessly like those things, or walkers as the crossbow guy had put it.

"He means that we all have the disease. If you die right now, you'll turn into one of 'em." Crossbow guy said.

"So we're like carriers?" She asked, still afraid of this idea that they would all become one of _them _when they passed away.

"Yeah. I'm Rick Grimes, by the way." The older man said, peeking behind the dumpster where Claire was hiding behind.

"And I'm Daryl. Daryl Dixon." The other guy held out his hand and Claire reluctantly shook with him. These guys seemed to know what they were doing, and Claire assumed it would be a good idea to stick with them.

"I'm Claire Wolfe." She said, and for some reason she didn't feel like she should tell these guys her names. Even though she had just decided to stick with them, she felt as if she shouldn't tell them all about her. What if they weren't who they seemed?

She shook the thought from her head.

"We should probably sweep the school for supplies and survivors. Then we'll try to find the rest of the group." Rick said.

"Wait... There's more of you guys?" Claire asked.

"Yeah. Plenty. You'll meet 'em later on, don't worry." Daryl said.

"Oh." Was all Claire said. Then the three stood in silence for a few moments, but it felt like much longer to Claire.

"So are we gonna go in?" She asked, looking at them, waiting for them to move.

"Maybe. We'll have ta' see what to do with ya though. You probably wouldn't want to go back in there." Daryl said.

"I will." Claire said, trying to act strong. But the truth was that she didn't think she could spend in minute in the school without passing out again.

"Are you sure?" Rick asked, as if he could sense her fear.

"Yeah, I think." Claire said, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. She always did that when she was nervous, and this moment was no exception.

"I think not. Daryl, you stay out here with her. I'll go inside myself." Rick said.

"No, I'll go with you." Claire said. "I want to find my friends."

She ran ahead, determined to find at least another person her age. She had no reason for this sudden determination, except for the fact that she needed someone her own age to talk to. That was just make this whole nightmare a little more comfortable.

"Aw, shit. Where the hell is she going?" Daryl asked.

"Back inside. We need to get her before she does something crazy." Rick replied. The two ran after her.

"Damn, she's fast." Daryl said.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Rick and Daryl were suddenly aware of a blood-curling scream. They ran faster.

When the reacher the source of the scream, they saw Claire, who was trying to battle a walker.

"Get off!" She shouted, trying to push it. It snapped its jaws at her in response. She screamed again. "Rick! Daryl! Rick?! DARYL!"

Rick pulled Claire away while Daryl shot it in the head with his crossbow.

Claire clung to Rick for a second, feeling stupid and afraid. Stupid, because she had tried to go on alone. And afraid because, well, she had just been in a fight with a walker.

"I'm... Sorry." She said, her voice shaky.

"It's alright, gal. Rick, let's do what you said earlier. You go in, I'll stay with her." Daryl said, motioning for Claire to come over to where he was. Claire went over to him.

"Sounds like a plan." Rick said, walking away from them.

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><p><strong>So thats that. I hope you enjoyed. This chapter might have been kind of short, I know and I'm sorry. But the next one will be longer, I promise. Next chapter we will possibly meet up with the rest of Rick's group, and there will be a new friend joining us. Who will it be? <strong>

**Also, if you have any suggestions on how to write the canon characters, please do share! It's a bit hard for me, but with your help I feel I will get much better! **

**Thanks for reading and have a great day/night! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, it's me again! And I'm back with an all-new chapter! As promised, a new character will be joining us this chapter. And he's an OC. Did we meet him yet? I know I didn't mention many other OCs that survived in the first or second chapter, but this character was mentioned lightly in the first chapter. **

**Maybe we'll also meet up with the rest of Rick's group. You'll just have to see and read on, huh? Come on, aren't you a little intrigued? If so, I'll move onto to the review replies so you can read. If you don't want to read on, well, why are you here then? **

**marmarpenn: Thank you again! Good to hear from you! And yes, this one will be longer. Hope you enjoy and thanks again for taking the time to review! **

**pen123:**** Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed! I try my best, so that just means so much to me! Thank you again! **

**Now, onto the chapter! **

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><p>Toby Steel sighed and put his hand on the handle of the hunter's knife in his pocket, thinking of his next move. He was hiding in the school library, behind a table that he had tipped over for cover.<p>

After that girl, Claire, had passed out, he and this other girl whom Toby didn't know but assumed that she was a close friend, had run off to get help. The girl didn't get far, he assumed, because she had went a way that had plenty of those things. He thought she would be dead by now, but who knows.

_There's probably not any help left in here,_ Toby thought grimly as he pulled the knife out of his pocket, examining it. It had a bit of blood on it, because earlier he had try to kill one of those things by slicing it's stomach open. The thing's guts were hanging our, but it didn't die. So he kicked the thing into a wall and stabbed it right in it's head. The thing died from that, thankfully.

He tried to wipe the blood from the knife onto his shirt, but most of it was dried. Whatever. He would probably kill more of them later anyway. He didn't want to waste his time. He twirled the knife around, looking at it from all angles. This knife had a lot of history with him, it had been with him since he was 7 years old. His father had given it to him for his birthday. He had no idea why his father would give this to him but he carried it to school every day. He remembered one time during third grade recess when the knife fell out of his pocket while he was going down the slide. He still remembered the hurt and embarrassment he had felt that day. He remembered some of the nicknames they had given him. How some of those nicknames still stuck to this day.

He was just sitting there, knife in his hand, when suddenly, for about the millionth time in his life, he felt himself being whisked back to that very day...

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><p><em>"Hey Toby!" <em>

_"Hi Toby!" _

_"Want to play with me at recess, Toby?" _

_"Want to sit at my table for lunch, Toby?" _

_These were the kinds of greetings Toby was used to when he walked into Mrs. Jones's third grade class every day. It felt nice to be the popular kid in the class, and that's exactly what he was. Kids always wanted to play with him, eat with him, partner up with him to do class work when the teacher allowed it, girls always crushed on him, guys always wanted to have him on his team at football, it was good. It was kind of impossible not to like him, with his dark, spiky hair and shiny green eyes. _

_He sat down at his desk and began his morning work. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the boy next to him, Matthew, trying to peek at his paper. Toby let him, although it didn't exactly feel right. _

_The day went just as any one would, working, talking, getting yelled at, and more work. Toby put his hand in his pocket many times during the day, just make sure his knife was still in there. If it fell out, he would get into huge trouble, and he definitely didn't want that. He even heard that he could be kicked out of school by bringing a weapon to school. _

_He didn't even know why he brought the knife to school everyday, anyway. It made him feel extremely safe, although he knew that nobody at school would ever try to hurt him. _

_Soon, it was time for recess. All of the 3rd grade children lined up with their teachers and they went outside. _

_"Hey, Toby! Wanna play sliders with me?" Jackson, another kid in Toby's class, asked as soon as the kids stepped onto the playground. _

_"Sure. What's sliders?" Toby asked Jackson. _

_"It's a game I made up. We go down the slide, racing to see who will go down fastest. It's fun. Owen is gonna play with us too." Jackson said, smiling and showing his teeth. He seemed excited to play his game, so Toby reluctantly agreed. _

_Jackson went and got Owen, and the three went over to the slides. There were two of them side by side. _

_"Who's gonna go first?" Toby asked. "There's only two slides." _

_"Me and you, then the winner will face Owen, since he beat me last time." Jackson said. _

_Now everyone was gathering around them to see what they were playing. Well, everyone except 3 girls swinging, and boys who were playing flag football__ on the field. _

_Toby and Jackson climbed up to the top of the slide, ready to begin their race. Owen made sure they were ready, and then he began to count down "1...2...3... GO!" He shouted. The two boys began to slide. _

_Toby heard a light banging sound as he slid, and he felt something sliding beside him. He decided to ignore the feeling. He was probably going too fast, and he was beginning to feel things. _

_He heard gasps and people whispering to each other as he got to the bottom. He was sure he had won. He stood up, smiling triumphantly. Everyone was staring at him, so he knew he won. Even Jackson was staring at him, his mouth open. _

_He stuck his hand in his pocket, checking for his knife. He had forgotten about it, but it was surely still there. He fished through his pocket, but nothing was there. He checked the other pocket. Still nothing. His felt his face turn pale and his features go numb. He looked down. The knife was laying beside him, by his feet. He tried to pick up, hopping nobody had seen it. But he knew that they had. That's why they were staring at him. _

_"What's wrong with you?" _

_"Are you gonna kill us?" _

_"Are you killing the teacher?" _

_"Are you slicing apples?" _

_He couldn't stand all of these questions being thrown at him. It was like a vicious game of dodgeball. _

_He tried to get away, but everyone blocked him off. _

_"Where are you going, killer boy?" _

_"Oooh, I like that. Killer boy!" _

_"Killer boy!" _

_"Killer boy!" _

_Then everyone started chanting, and a recess monitor came over to break up the crowd, which even the football players and those girls had joined. _

_"What's going on?" The monitor asked angrily. _

_"We're just... Playing a game." Chloe Marsala, who was in a different 3rd grade class than Toby, said. Toby was relieved they she was covering for him. But he wasn't sure about all of the other kids. They would probably give him away. _

_Lunch came after recess. Nobody had said a peep to the monitor about the knife, and Toby was grateful. But nobody sat with him at lunch. _

_10 minutes into lunch, (they only had 15 minutes total), Chloe came up to his table and sat down. _

_"You're lucky we're not telling on you. Yet. You could get into big trouble for that." She said. Then she got up and walked away, just as quickly as she came. _

_It went on for a couple of days, the name calling and exclusion from everything. But nobody told on him. He went to school in fear everyday, fear that somebody would tell and he would be out of school. He still brought the knife to school every day regardless. They already knew about it. What more damage could they do? Turns out a lot. Those days stretched into weeks, and then the weeks became years. _

_When the other children were still in elementary school, they were afraid of Toby. But as they got older and went to middle school, they just considered him crazy. They still called him "killer boy". Toby had no idea how bringing a knife to school could cause all of this, but it did. _

_Then high school came. Toby thought it would be different, and the kids would finally get over something from 3rd grade. _

_But they didn't. _

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><p>"What the hell are you doing?" Claire asked Daryl, who was rolling up her sleeves and examining her arms.<p>

"I'm trying to save yer life. I would think ya would be grateful." Daryl replied.

"How are you saving my life by feeling me up?"

"I'm checking for scratches or bites so ya don't turn into one of 'em."

"One of what?"

"One a those things ya thought ya would be tough enough for."

"I wasn't expecting to run into one of them!"

"Then maybe ya shouldn't of ran ahead. Why the hell were ya doin' that anyway?"

"I wanted a friend."

"Like me n' Rick weren't enough. I don't know if you're mentally prepared for this."

"For what?"

Daryl rolled his eyes. How many dumb questions could one girl ask? "For what's goin' on."

Claire scoffed and pulled her arm away from Daryl abruptly.

"Fine. If ya feel yerself turnin', don't come crying ta us." Daryl said, smirking. He knew that she would come right back.

Claire sighed let Daryl look at her arm again.

"So... About Rick.." Claire started.

"What about him?"

"Do you think... He'll find anybody?"

"He'll try. He probably will."

"What if he doesn't make it out alive?"

"This is Rick yer talking about, right? Of course he'll get out."

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Positive. And ya look clean. No scratches or bites."

* * *

><p>Toby was gripping the handle of his knife so hard that his hand was turning white. He loosened his grip. Every time he thought about the day when the kids found out about the knife, he felt anger, too much anger. He wanted to kill one of those things, maybe blow off some steam.<p>

But none of them were nearby. He stayed in his position, though, in case one did end up coming.

He sat still without moving for a few moments, when suddenly a silhouette passed by. He jumped up, alarmed.

Something came into the room. Toby charged at it and tackled it over. It was probably one of those things. He was ready to stab it, when it suddenly pushed him off. When could one of those things do that?

"I'm human." The thing got up and said. It was human, after all.

"Same." Toby said, even though there was no point.

"How many of you are in here?" The man asked.

"Just me."

"I'm Rick Grimes. Come with me." The man motioned for the boy to follow.

"How do I know if I can trust you?" Toby asked.

"Smart. But you can. If you don't want to come, you can stay here, but I doubt you'll last. But you can always try your luck."

Toby reluctantly followed.

"Do you know of any other survivors in here?" Rick asked as he and Toby walked through the halls.

"Well, there was one that I was going to get help for."

"Where were they? Are they far from here?"

"No. She's upstairs. Not that far away."

"Are you sure she's alive?"

"Well, yeah. She just passed out. Her name was Claire."

"Claire... Wolfe?"

"Yeah. Wait... How do you know her?"

"She was outside and we found her behind a dumpster, passed out."

Toby wondered how she had even gotten outside. Had she waken up? "We? Who's we?"

"A group member and I. She's alive and breathing. But she just got attacked."

"By those... Things?"

"Yeah. She's fine, or so we think."

They walked down the halls for a while, looking in all of the classrooms. They had to kill some walkers along the way.

"The only thing that'll take these things out will be attacking the brain." Rick said as a herd approached them in he auditorium.

Toby charged at one and dug his knife into its skull.

"You're very capable with your knife." Rick commented as he watched Toby kill another walker.

"Thanks." Toby said, wiping the fresh blood from his knife onto his shirt.

Soon the two of them had searched the whole school. There was nobody anywhere.

"They either escaped, or they died." Rick said, looking at all of the dead bodies in the halls, a mix of both walkers and humans.

Toby was speechless. He had no idea that this many people would die, or just escape. It was scary how he was just having a normal day at school when suddenly poof! this whole thing happened in a matter of seconds.

"Let's go outside now. Meet up with Claire and Daryl, my other group members." Rick said.

"Sounds good. I've seen enough today, anyway." Toby said.

* * *

><p><strong>So, we didn't meet up with the rest of Rick's group this chapter. It'll happen soon though, I promise. I just won't tell you when. ;)<strong>

**Anyway, what do ya'll think of Toby? Love? Hate? Meh? I'd love to hear your opinions! **

**Thanks for reading and have a great day/night! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again everyone! Welcome to another chapter! **

**pen123:**** Thanks! Maybe we'll see them this chapter... And I'm glad you like Toby, I didn't know what the reactions would be about him, so thanks! **

**"I Love Fanfics"(Guest): Thanks for all of those reviews! They mean a lot! And going off of what you said about which character will be alive, it'll be what you said. All of the characters in this season. But maybe I'll bring Beth back. Maybe not. I probably won't even make her get captured if I do make her alive. You'll just have to see, haha. And yeah, this story is extremely hard for me to write believe it or not, because I've never done something so AU before. Like, this has completely nothing to do with anything in the walking dead right now. (Except for maybe the characters that are dead.)Like I said, I will make references here and there, like on deaths and stuff like that. Again, thanks for the reviews! Oh yeah, I also have heart attacks when people get attacked on he show. Well, mostly characters I like, XD.**

**I know it's been a long wait for you guys, and I'm sorry. My life had been hectic, mostly because it was the holiday season and we all know how that goes. Ugh. Anyway, enough rambling. **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

><p>"Are you sure we should be doing this? What if Rick already came out of the school?" Claire asked Daryl as they scavenged through a convenience store that was about a block away from the school. Claire knew this store well, because she and Lindsey would go there all of the time during their lunch period and pig out on candy and gum.<p>

"Chill out. He'll wait. He would want us ta find supplies. We'll be back there soon, anyway. There's really not much left in this place." Daryl told her. It was true, most of the shelves were bare, and there were no people left in there whatsoever.

"What happened to this place, anyway?" There was a huge whole in the wall on one side, and a bunch of dead bodies on the other side. It looked like someone had come through and massacred the place.

"I dunno. Somethin bad, obviously. Maybe the walkers got here. Then again, how could they do all of this shit?" Daryl bent over and swiped up a bottle. He read the label to himself and tossed the bottle to Claire. She didn't catch it, and it slipped out of her hands and onto the floor. Daryl laughed.

"Aspirin, I think." He said as she retrieved the bottle from the ground.

"You _think_?" She asked, reading the label as well.

"It's kinda dark in here, ya can't really blame me."

"You're right." She said, squinting at the bottle.

"Just keep it. If we take this long looking at every item we pick up, we'll be here all damn day."

"Fine." Claire stuffed the bottle in the pocket of her jeans.

"Look at this! Aw yeah!" Daryl shouted, holding up a bag.

"What is it?" Claire asked, trying to snatch the bag away. But Daryl pulled it away from her.

"Gummy worms." Daryl said, opening the bag. He pulled a gummy worm out and stuffed it into his mouth. "Want one?" He held the bag out to Claire.

She pushed it away. "No."

"Oh, come on." He said, shaking the bag in her face.

"No, I don't really like gummy worms." She said, pushing the bag away once again.

"Fine. More fo me." How the hell could someone not like gummy worms?

"We should really get back to the school now." Claire, her nervousness apparent in her voice.

"Why should we? We barley even looked around." Daryl said.

"Rick might need us. He seems like a good guy. And we probably don't want him dead." She thought about all of the people that she had seen die at her school. She didn't want it to happen again, even to people that she didn't know that well.

"He is a good guy, and trust me when I say he will not die. He won't. Don't get all paranoid. Plus, ya just met us. Why do you care so much."

"I don't know. I'm just a... Neurotic I guess. It'a what all my friends have told me, and apparently it's true. I stress over anything and everything."

"Well, you know what they say."

"No, what?"

"The first step to recovery is admittin' ya got a problem."

Claire laughed as they looked around some more. Damn, it was dark in there. They scavenged all that they could from the ground, which was barely anything, except for a few more bags of gummies, that bottle of aspirin or whatever it was, and a few packs of gum.

"Let's look behind the check-out counter." Claire suggested.

"Yer right. Good idea." Daryl answered, climbing behind the counter. Claire did the same.

"Ya didn't have to come back here to. I coulda just looked myself." Daryl said, picking up a small box and looking at it. It was cigarettes.

Claire shrugged.

"Hello..." Someone said faintly. Daryl looked at Claire, and Claire looked at Daryl. Then they both looked for the source.

Then they found it. A girl. Hunched over on the floor.

"Hello!" Claire shouted, shaking the girl.

"I'm here..." She said quietly.

"Can ya move?" Daryl asked her.

"Barely." The girl answered weakly.

"What's your name?" Claire asked.

"Minnie." The girl said, and Claire tried to help her up. She could barely stand up straight. Claire put her arm around her shoulders to support her.

"What the hell happened to ya?" Daryl asked, looking at Minnie. She didn't look bit or anything, but her clothes were all bloody.

"A monster... It got me.." She said, holding out her hand for the two to see. There was a large scratch on it. It looked pretty severe. Daryl had no idea whether she would make it or not.

"Oh my god." Claire said.

"We'll see what we can do for ya, you think you can pull through for a while? Or at least a few minutes?" Daryl asked her.

"Maybe." She said faintly.

"Let's go." Daryl said to Claire, and they climbed over the counter, helping Minnie along over as well.

Then they let the store, heading back to the school.

* * *

><p>"Where are they?" Toby asked Rick as they stepped out of the school.<p>

"They'll be around. Maybe they went to do something. Look for something. Maybe they went to look for supplies." Rick told the kid.

"Supplies can never hurt you." Toby said.

"Yeah."

"So, what's going on? The attack of the monsters?" Toby laughed as he said this, but Rick just looked at him.

"It's hardly funny." Rick said.

"Sorry. But, seriously. What's going on here?" Toby asked, now feeling stupid that he had made a joke about something that was obviously very serious. Hadn't he just seen a bunch of people just die because of this? Maybe he just had a very dark sense of humor.

"It's a virus. It'a been around awhile. And, we're all infected with the virus. And what I mean by that is that if you die, you'll turn into one of those things."

"Aren't people trying to find a cure for this virus?"

"People are trying. But nothing is happening. We'll have to see what happens, but as of now, we have nothing."

Toby sighed. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't they just live like they had before? Why did it all have to change so abruptly?

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Rick saw Daryl and Claire approaching. But there was another person with them. Who was that? It looked like a walker, with ripped up, bloody clothes. Plus, she was limping.

"Who's that?" Rick asked as they came close.

"A girl we found in the corner store, while we were looking fo supplies. We decided that helpin' her would be better than leavin' her, ya know?"

"I see. We'll see what we can do for her. Is she bit?" Rick asked, surveying the girl. She looked like she would turn at any moment.

"Scratched." Daryl answered.

"I'll check her out." Rick said, taking the girl's hand and checking out her scratch.

"Hey you!" Claire shouted at Toby. She gestured for him to come closer to her.

"Yeah?" Toby asked.

"Aren't you the kid that hid behind the table with me and Lindsey? Is it... Tony?" She asked pointing a finger at him.

"Toby." He corrected, sighing. Was he such a loser that nobody knew his name?

"Sorry." She said.

"Yeah, about your friend... She didn't make it. We split up to get help for you... And she went a bad way... I tried to stop her. But she was too bent on getting you help. I would've helped her.."

"It's ok. I know." She interrupted, feeling the tears forming in her eyes.

They didn't say anything for a few moments. Their eyes just circled around the entire area, thinking about what their lives were.

Suddenly, they were aware of a low growl. They turned towards Rick. Minnie's eyes were all messed up, and she was chomping her jaws at Rick. Rick looked up at her, pulled out his gun, aimed it at her head, and blew her head open.

"Oh my god." Claire said, looking away in disgust. Toby just stood and stared in shock.

Rick looked at them. "It's ok." He assured. "We had to. She turned."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire couldn't get the images out of her mind. She could see it now. Minnie getting her brains blown out. Minnie turning and trying to eat Rick. This whole monster thing was just too much.

Now, all she wanted was to see her family.

"Can we go check the neighborhood? See if our families are still there?" She asked Rick and Daryl.

"We'll look around after. We just have to meet up with the rest of our group first." Rick answered.

Clare didn't want to wait another minute. "Can I please go? You and Tony could go back..."

"Toby." Toby corrected, now a little annoyed.

"... You and Toby could go back, and Daryl could come with me. Please?" She begged Rick.

Rick thought for a moment. The plan seemed good. If Claire went with Daryl, he would keep her safe.

"Sounds good to me. Sound good to you Daryl?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, I'll go wit her. Just remember to tell tha rest of tha group that I'm ok and that we have another new member comin' in."

"Will do." Rick said, and they headed their separate ways.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**So that's it folks. Hope you enjoyed. **

**Next chapter, I promise that we'll see the rest of the group. I promise. **

**Thanks for reading and have a great day/night! **


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